by Kirsty Cox
Today started as every day does for me with a morning run. I have really noticed over the last few days how much darker it is in the morning when I set out - I think soon I’ll have to resort to a headtorch! But for the moment I can still stumble along the track in the first of the light and by the time I am heading back towards the village, I get to see the sunrise over the mainland.
I spent the first couple of hours of the working day in recycling. With some music on and a cup of coffee to hand I managed to sort all the bags and empty the recycling bin - it always feels good to see the bottom of the bin as so often bags mount up when recycling arrives from all the properties each changeover day.
The rest of my day was devoted to the seals - heading off on pup check and then up to Brazen Ward for a disturbance survey. We usually finish disturbance surveys at the end of September but with day-tripper boats from Ilfracombe still advertising Lundy visits on their websites, and with the amount of disturbance we have been seeing over the season, Tara and I felt it would be good to continue with the surveys on days when trips were advertised and I didn’t have other work commitments.
I pup checked on the way up to Brazen Ward, visiting all the viewpoints. At the moment there are a lot fewer pups to monitor as the season draws to a close. As well as a full house of weaned pups in the Landing Bay, there are still a few white coats around including one who has started to moult showing its unique fur pattern beneath. 
Moulting Pup by Kirsty Cox
I spent three hours at Brazen Ward watching the seals and monitoring for disturbance. There were no boats that arrived but the data collected shows how the seals would behave without disturbance so is still useful for us to have. And sitting in the sunshine watching the seals was no hardship on my part!
I also saw several birds during my survey including a flock of 50+ Goldfinches and 2 Gannets. And it was lovely to see a Clouded Yellow butterfly near to Castles as well. But across the island there were huge numbers of sightings today including Redwing, Fieldfare, Lapland Bunting, Ring Ouzel, Firecrest, Snow Bunting, Stock Dove, Merlin, Hen Harrier, Teal, Thrush, Lapwing, Jack Snipe, Brambling, Grey Wagtail and a Short-eared Owl!